TWO POLITICIANS IN Northern Ireland have been forced to abandon a trip to Afghanistan because the Ministry of Defence has said it does not have body armour large enough to fit them.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that Lord Ken Maginnis and MP David Simpson had been scheduled to visit troops from the Royal Irish and the Irish Guard. However, the men have been forced to postpone their plans as the protective jackets that every person visiting the area is required to wear only stretch to 49 inches.

A frustrated Maginnis told the Belfast Telegraph that he made the same trip two years ago and has lost weight since. He said:

I wanted to go out and meet the troops and made considerable efforts to clear my diary, so this made me very cross.

The reality is that we have young men and women out there fighting for us. They are putting their lives on the line. They deserve a little bit of consideration. I am no giant, neither is Davy Simpson. We are both reasonably normal, although we are bigger than most.

However, a Minister of Defense spokeswoman said:

Nobody is allowed to board an aircraft to Afghanistan without correctly fitting body armour. The MoD provides a wide range of sizes but regrettably none was suitable on this occasion.

We recognise the importance of MPs visiting Afghanistan but this trip has been postponed while we try to source sufficiently sized body armour.